Southern California -- this just in

4 shot at USC Halloween party; campus on lockdown

November 1, 2012 | 1:35
am

Four people were shot during a Halloween party on the USC campus late Wednesday, including one who was critically injured.

Law enforcement sources told The Times that the gunman opened fire on one person outside the party but also hit three bystanders. The targeted person is in critical condition, and the three others have non-life-threatening wounds. Police believe the gunman was not a USC student and that the shooting was tied to a dispute not related to the university.

The university is urging people on campus to stay indoors and not open their doors. It issued an alert to students and staff that read: "Police-related
incident in progress at Tutor Campus Center on USC Campus. The scene is
secure and there is an ongoing investigation. Campus shut down, stay
away from area at this time."

Witnesses said the shooting occurred during an overcrowded party at the center of the campus.

A USC student, who asked not to be named, said a student group was
hosting the party and that it was at maximum capacity. The witness said
there were about 100 people outside -- as well as some campus police --
when at least four shots rang out.

"Everyone started running. I saw a guy who was shot in the leg. He
was limping and screaming for his friends to help him. 'I got shot. Can
someone give me a ride?' His friends were helping him walk," the witness
said. "People were screaming and running away."

Student Astrid Solorzano, 23, said she saw one of the victims lying
on the ground after the shooting. She said he was alive but having
trouble breathing.

In April, two graduate students were fatally shot in what authorities said was a botched robbery a few miles from campus.

The deaths stunned the university, which announced a string of new security measures.

Two men were arrested in May and charged with those killings.

In 2008, USC sprinter and now Olympic
medalist Bryshon Nellum was shot in the leg three times at a Halloween
party. Nellum, then a sophomore at USC, accompanied a track recruit to
the party, which was just off campus.